WILOW-Ch.400: Defeating the Westerlands Army
Outside the Golden Tooth, Westerlands
POV of Domeric Bolton
His men were tired. Domeric knew that. A whole day of fighting would leave anyone exhausted.
Tywin Lannister had not gone easy in his attack and threw all his troops in the hope that Bolton's defenses would break, and the Lannister army would be able to enter the Castle, but no such thing happened.
His men repelled all attacks from the Lannister army, and by the end of the day, there was a small mountain of corpses outside their gates.
But thanks to the magical amulets, his own army suffered negligible losses.
He only lost a few unfortunate men due to intense enemy arrows or, occasionally, when groups of soldiers climbing ladders to the walls attacked his men en masse, rendering the amulets' protection insufficient.
So, except for a few unlucky men, his men only sustained minor injuries.
Magical amulets only activated if their user was subjected to a lethal attack. Therefore, non-lethal attacks, usually to the arms and legs, resulted in minor injuries if his men couldn't defend themselves.
But ultimately, all these injuries were treatable, and after each battle, his soldiers, under the protection of the magical amulets, gained more experience and transformed into veteran soldiers.
In fact, many of the wounded men, after having their injuries treated and resting for a while, rejoined the defense during the next rotation.
By the time Tywin realized that his gamble had failed, the Westerlands had only 6000 men remaining in their army.
At that point, even Tywin probably understood that if he sent any more men to the attack, then his men would ignore his command and desert him then and there.
In the end, Tywin chose to take what was left of his once great army and started going south. It seemed Tywin had chosen to survive and save his revenge for another day.
Not knowing that he had already lost the war.
Domeric knew how vengeful and patient Tywin was. He knew that if he let him live, Tywin would stab him in the back when he found an opportunity.
And he had no intention of leaving a time bomb behind as the Long Night approached.
So, he had taken his cavalry and rode after the remnants of the Lannister army.
He called his Wyvern Riders with the magical mirror and told them to take the wildfire bombs they had and drop them on top of the retreating Lannister army.
The wyverns followed his orders, and a few minutes later, he could see small explosions happening in the distance as the Lannister army finally broke and scattered in all directions.
The Lannister army had finally been routed.
Even now, Domeric could go down in history as the man who defeated all the armies of the Westerlands.
But even as the army was routed, he could see that the central core of the Lannister army still held strong and was still in the process of retreating south.
Using his magical far-eye, he found that Tywin Lannister and his other commanders were in this group. So Domeric told the wyverns to stop the attack and remain on standby.
Then he gave a fierce grin and told Varko and Raksa to both take 1/3rd of the cavalry and attack from left and right, while he went with full might to attack with his direwolves and tore right through the remaining men from the center.
The remaining Lannister men could do nothing.
Varko and Raksa were clearing the remaining men from the flanks, trapping the core of the army, while Domeric advanced through the center, attacking from the rear.
The Lannister army currently had no cavalry. So the remaining men had no choice but to flee on foot.
Only the lords, knights, and nobles in the core of the army still had horses. But galloping them meant abandoning their remaining men.
Indeed, having no other choice, it didn't take long for Domeric to see Tywin and the other lords and knights galloping away from the remaining men.
Tywin seemed to be using his remaining men as a buffer, a way to stop him and save his own life. Domeric wouldn't expect anything less from someone like him.
But this wasn't enough for Tywin to escape. Domeric's direwolves could easily catch the galloping horses.
The remaining panicked men of the Lannister army standing before him seemed to have neither the strength nor the will to stop him.
The truly absurd thing was that a commander should expect loyalty from his men after abandoning them.
Domeric, after breaking through the enemy lines that were scattering in panic with his men and direwolves, the direwolves speed up, catching up with Tywin and his fleeing horse riders, and then blocking their path.
Although Tywin wanted to break through the direwolves and continue on his way, his horse seemed unwilling to obey.
And with Varko and Raksa catching up on the flanks and Domeric from the rear, Tywin Lannister was now completely trapped.
About an hour after they left the castle and went in pursuit of the fleeing Lannister army, he had Tywin Lannister and some of the most influential lords in the Westerlands tied in front of him.
"Lord Tywin." He said to the old man, who continued to glare at him, "Your reign of terror ends here."
"Do you think this is over, Bolton boy? A Lannister always pays his debts. I will never forget the humiliation I suffered here today, and one day I will make you pay dearly for it." Tywin Lannister said.
And Domeric did not doubt that Tywin would do just that if given the chance.
He would inflict as much harm as he could on Domeric, his loved ones, or anything important to him, whenever he had the opportunity.
But Domeric had no intention of giving him that chance.
"You know the saying, Lord Tywin. Dead men tell no tales. But in this case, it would be more accurate to say, dead men pay no debts," he said.
"You cannot execute me without a trial. Being judged before the King is my right as a nobleman and Warden of the Westerlands. If you violate this, you will find no nobleman supporting you," Tywin said, grinding his teeth.
"If I kill everyone here now, all of Westeros will only know that you died in battle, do you realize that?" Domeric said, and after watching Tywin glare at him with hateful eyes, he added:
"But don't worry, Lord Tywin, I have no intention of killing you here. As you requested, you will be judged before the ruler of these lands. But don't even think for a moment that this person is your grandson."
"What do you mean? King Joffrey Baratheon is the sole ruler of these lands," Tywin said.
"That may be to you, but the rest of Westeros sees him as a bastard. And I'm sure you know that I recently declared my Empire over these lands. That means I will be the one to judge you," Domeric said with a mischievous smile.
"Nonsense. Then I demand a trial by combat. Let the gods decide who is right and who is wrong," Tywin said.
He knew very well that if he left his fate to Domeric's judgment, his end would not be good.
"I have no intention of allowing such a trial in my imperial system. But I can make an exception for you. However, I have a good place in mind for the trial. But I doubt you'll still want it when we get there," he said.
"What do you intend to do, Lord Bolton?" Tywin asked.
"You just said the Lannisters always pay their debts. I wonder if the Martells keep a list of their past debts? You see, I intend to hand you over to them."
And after his words, he watched Tywin's face turn deathly pale, and the light in his eyes fade. But he felt not a gram of mercy for the man.
Tywin's hand was stained with the blood of many, from babies to other innocents.
Now he was simply facing the consequences of his actions. And for that, he had no right to blame anyone but himself.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.401: Another Sibling Reunion
Ch.402: Victory Feast
Ch.403: Coming to Ask for Permission